<p>Even if in this case, it was a heart condition, practicing in that heat could not have been a good thing, even for the healthiest of athletes, especially when heat related deaths are more common then is acceptable.</p>
<p>Ooops, it’s the same case, I just thought Fredricksburg was in Maryland, not Virginia. At least now I know two different soccer players didn’t die on the same day-- that would be even more awful.</p>
<p>How sad it is. And it does look like it might be heat-related.</p>
<p>I hope it wasn’t just the heat, but how horrible no matter what the cause! </p>
<p>D last week began her first college pre-season in NC (we’re from NY). They seem to average about 6 hours of fitness training and practice a day. With three practices, they can’t avoid the heat. </p>
<p>I was worried about the heat, and was slightly reassured that they weigh every player before and after practice, checking hydration. In the first few days, D said she “lost” about 4 lbs. per practice, but was rehydrated again by the next one. They told her a fluid loss of 2-4 lbs. was normal. </p>
<p>She just told me tonight the whole team is so dead they’re getting a day off tomorrow. Reading these posts, I hope they’re really on top of the heat.</p>
<p>There are quite a few sudden deaths in young people where an underlying cause isn’t ever determined. A little more than a decade ago a young man who did farm work for us (played football, very active kid) died suddenly during class at 16. They could not find anything wrong in autopsy or tox screens. His dad did a lot of research at the time and was very surprised to find the number of cases like his son’s were much higher than one would imagine. </p>
<p>So sad.</p>
<p>Memorial service to be held this Saturday. This will not be pretty. Even though I didn’t know the boy (boy?? at 20???) or the family, I still plan on going. He was a classmate of my S2. It could have been any one of our sons. I need to go to show support for the family.</p>
<p>yes you can avoid the heat for practices if you really want to. guess a death here and there is worth it if you win</p>
<p>Ouch, ilovetoquilt22. I think they are trying to avoid the heat at D’s school. They practice as late as 11 at night, but from early to late it’s hot. From D’s reports of what coaches/trainers say and do, I don’t get the impression at all they’re willing to kill kids to win.</p>
<p>I just think that for the sake of winning, we push too hard. There should not have been one heat realted death from practices ever. Fortuneately, there are fewer these days, but to even have one was too much. Seems so weird that you have to weigh athletes before and after practices, and to lose 4 POUNDS of fluid a day can’t be good for the body. What that does to the kidneys, the heart, who knows.</p>
<p>And then when you seen the injuries to gymnasts, competive chearleaders, foorball players. Young bodies that are overworked, overtired, not given the chance to heal.</p>
<p>My friends son played college rugby with a broken nose. One day after he broke it. She was Pizzed, but what could she do? The coaches said, sure, go play. </p>
<p>And yes, I played sports, my H and Ds all did. And I will bet you this was a death that didn’t have to happen. Apparently the practices at this school are brutal. Add to that 90plus degrees. and you have conditions that are just looking for problmes.</p>
<p>I’m so sorry to hear of this loss.</p>
<p>I only want to add from family experience here that an obscure heart condition to watch out for is IHSS, a congenital thickening in the lining of the heart (nicknamed “fat heart.”). If the thickening happens to be near a heart valve, that’s a bad location. It often has genetic carrydown into the next generation, I think 50%. </p>
<p>In some families, a middle-aged parent begins getting winded – or is otherwise symptomatic – and goes for tests, discovers the strain and THEN gets teenaged kids tested by order of the doctor, to establish a baseline to monitor over time. That’s why I know about it.</p>
<p>Without being tipped off by a parent’s middle-aged symptoms, young people usually go undiagnosed in their early years. Sadly, IHSS (or CDP may be the new name) does take roaringly healthy young people to death in a moment on an athletic field. </p>
<p>If diagnosed, some schools won’t let a kid with IHSS onto teams that require sudden or continued exertion (in any weather). Or they may require an annual check-in with a pediatric cardiologist before letting the kid play that year. </p>
<p>It’s too expensive to screen/test the entire population of sports wannabes for this particular problem, as it involves EKG and Echocardiogram.</p>
<p>Again, my condolences to this family. I only pass along the little bit I know in response to earlier posts wondering about heart issues, in general. I’m not a doctor, not even close.</p>
<p>I wasn’t more worried about the 4 lb fluid loss because D always complained about sweating more than others. Otoh, her resting and exercising heart rates are very low; she is extremely fit. If the weight were still low at the next practice weigh-in, they would be concerned.</p>
<p>I wonder how many sudden deaths are attributable to heat alone, not undiagnosed risk factors or other contributors.</p>
<p>They do the weight thing at son’s practices too. It is routine that they lose 4 -5 pounds in fluid during practice.</p>
<p>He’s taken to carrying a gallon milk jug full of water around with him all day. So far, he’s hanging in there. Two a days aren’t much fun :rolleyes:</p>
<p>In Lake County here in Ohio, they have just started keeping kiddie pools and bags of ice near high school football practices in case someone needs to be cooled down quickly.
[Lake</a> County schools using kiddie pools to prevent heatstroke in football players](<a href=“http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1250325239310800.xml&coll=2]Lake”>http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1250325239310800.xml&coll=2)</p>
<p>From our local newspaper:</p>
<p>“According to preliminary autopsy reports, [he] died from an enlarged heart.”</p>
<p>Heat isn’t good, but that wasn’t what caused his death.</p>
<p>So should all our athlete sons get echocardiograms, just to be sure?</p>
<p>There was a similar thread last winter:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/652299-we-have-crisis-we-need-find-solution.html?highlight=solution[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/652299-we-have-crisis-we-need-find-solution.html?highlight=solution</a></p>
<p>Dh is a pediatric cardiologist. He just mentioned a study that showed 3 to 5 events like this one for every 220,000 screened athletes (screening consisted of an exam and thorough history, including family history). He also mentioned that, in Italy, an EKG is done on all prospective hs athletes, and it’s believed that this finds more than 90 percent of potential serious heart conditions (meaning, I guess, that fewer than 10 percent are undiscovered? That still sounds like a lot to me).</p>
<p>Dh points out several shortcomings to screening programs: if kids are examined when parents aren’t present, the kids may not be able to give an accurate family history. Even when parents fill out forms about family history, the questions may be poorly written or explained. Some kids may be reluctant to admit certain symptoms if they think these could interfere with the ability to play sports. And adult cardiologists may interpret EKG findings differently than pediatric cardiologists. (Would you want a pediatric cardiologist to read your EKG?) </p>
<p>In our metropolitan area of 730,000, we have 5 pediatric cardiologists - not enough to screen every potential hs athlete. So I don’t know how realistic it is to have every athlete get an echocardiogram. My prayers to the young man’s family - such a sad story.</p>
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<p>^^Agreeing. Perhaps the way at it is for either parent who is having any heart symptoms to have themselves checked out aggressively for IHSS, as any symptomatic parent would be entitled to such tests. Then, if IHSS is discovered in the parent, all the kids would be eligible for baseline screenings to determine if there’s evidence they’ve inherited it. </p>
<p>That’s what occurred in our family. Following sure diagnosis in a midlife dad and one
of his midlife brothers, we were strongly advised by the doctor to get all 3 of our kids tested as teenagers. One son’s baseline indicates he should monitor for this throughout his lifetime, while the other son and daughter seem to have dodged it. Also, if an adult gets such a diagnosis, s/he should bug all their adult/middleaged siblings to get similar testing. Might save a niece or nephew’s life.</p>
<p>Also note: I haven’t read recent research, but if either gender parent has this syndrome, both genders of the children are tested. It’s not just a boy thing.</p>
<p>@frazzled1 – I found your post illuminating! I also wonder, on this particular form of heart disease, how much shows up on an EKG versus the more involved/expensive Echocardiogram? I was under the impression you really need to go all the way to echocardiogram to confirm a diagnosis–on THIS form of heart disease, anyway.</p>
<p>It also doesn’t preclude all athletic activity. As I recall, a big problem comes from sports where there’s sudden exertion – a sprint, going from standing still to rapid running. So football and soccer teams might be more of a risk to a teen with IHSS, than other sports that permit more personal control over the expectation to sprint from complete rest to top-speed.</p>
<p>If someone has been treated for youthful asthma the medication used is most is steroids. Be cognizant of the long term affects of such treatment. I say this from personal and tragic experience.</p>
<p>Having an enlarged heart does not necessarily mean that heat was not a factor. To dismiss the 98plus degree temperatires (and it was an afternoon practice) because they found an enlarged heart is foolish.</p>
<p>There was a football player 5 years ago who died of heat and he had an enlarged heart.</p>
<p>There are probably many atheletes with enlarged hearts. And the practices in that heat trigger something. I am not a doctor, but to so easily go, oh,it couldnt have been the heat, seems like not wanting to face facts.</p>
<p>“If someone has been treated for youthful asthma the medication used is most is steroids. Be cognizant of the long term affects of such treatment.”</p>
<p>I’m sure you know this, but the steroids used for asthma are not anabolic steroids.</p>
<p>toblin, </p>
<p>What are the long-term effects of the type of steroids used for asthma treatment? So far, the only awful thing I’ve known about first-hand was a child who suffered bone loss while taking high doses of Advair. He found out after his third or fourth broken bone when the fall or impact normally wouldn’t cause a break in a child his age. After the problem was confirmed by a bone scan his parents discovered this was a little known side effect of the drug.</p>
<p>So many children are taking various prescription drugs I worry that we don’t research the possible side effects well enough.</p>
<p>FWIW: I decided not to go to the memorial service, which is happening right now. Since I didn’t know the boy and I don’t know his family, it felt too voyeuristic. Besides, I had no one to go with. I know that many many people whom I know will be there, and I’ll get a full report.</p>
<p>I have not read/heard the INHALED GLUCOCORTICOID STEROIDS treating asthma cause any heart conditions and in fact are helpful in REDUCING inflamation for asthmatics, even when taken long-term.</p>
<p>Anticholinergics which are used to treat patients with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease–conditions including emphysema and chronic bronchitis) have been implicated in increasing the risk of heart problems.</p>
<p>Undiagnosed and untreated Kawasaki’s Sydrome can cause heart problems later in life–they don’t understand the condition all that well. It generally strikes kids young (I know kids who have had it before they turned 2)–fortunately they were diagnosed and treated and appear to be healthy young adults.</p>